Hawthorne Create An Allegory In Dr Heidegger's Experiment

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In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne uses imagery and symbolism to create an allegory that communicates to the reader the idea that people are fools. In the story it talks about how Dr. Heidegger invited his 4 friends over to conduct an experiment on the Fountain of Youth. The four friends have each failed at something (power, money, beauty, and youth) and are foolish enough to try to get the something back. Also, Dr. Heidegger is a very weird person. He had a lot of other weird studies too “Over the central book-case was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which, according to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations, in all difficult cases of his practice.” (Hawthorne 502 & 503). The